Stranded
by TML
Summary: Crappy case with little to no sleep- Check. Flat tire- Check. Pouring rain- Check. Calling Aaron during his sleep hours AGAIN- Check. You mother interrupting what could become a heated moment -Ah come on mother this is not a good time.  Sequel to Stuck.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Since Katie didn't want to go to Wal-Mart with me I was left all alone to do nothing for an hour while they changed my tire and oil. I tend to get into trouble often and Katie said she would bail me out of jail if I gave her the bail money (money neither of us have) I thought it'd be best if I stayed out of trouble so I decided I'd write instead of terrorizing the patrons of Wally World. That being said… this one is for Katie…

Summary:

Crappy case with little to no sleep…Check.  
Flat tire…Check.  
Pouring rain…Check.  
Calling Aaron in his sleep hours (AGAIN)… Check.  
You mother interrupting a heated moment… Ah come on mother this is so not a good time.

Sequel to Stuck….Enjoy!

**STRANDED  
**Chapter 1

"Oh he's going to kill me." She should have just gone home with him like he'd asked, but she had a lot of errands she wanted to get started on first thing in the morning. She invited him to her place instead but Haley was dropping Jack off first thing in the morning so that was a no go.

Emily dug in her purse for her cell phone. She was surprised when he answered on the first ring. They'd just returned from a gruesome case that had lasted four days with little to no sleep, she knew he had to be exhausted.

"Emily it's late, is everything okay?"

"I'm stranded." She took a deep breath preparing herself for what was about to come. A sense of déjà vu washed over her.

"Where are you?"

She made a confused face. "Woodbridge. You're not going to ask for any more details?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine.'

"Then no." He chuckled. "I'll wait to see for myself what you managed to get yourself into."

"Thanks Aaron, can you bring a flashlight?"

He didn't ask. If a flashlight was what she wanted then that's what he would bring.

It was pouring and she was soaked from head to toe. The tire pressure light had turned on two days before they'd left for the last case and now she knew she shouldn't have ignored it, in her defense she'd gotten really busy.

She saw a set of headlights coming her way. "I'm so gonna get it." She knew she shouldn't have waited outside the car in the rain but she'd already taken the lugs off her tire, placed the spare in place of the flat and had already used the jack to raise the car. If she wanted to sit in her car then she'd have to lower the car and that required to much energy.

The chuckle and look of amusement she knew he had while on the phone were no where to be found. "Emily what happened? Why didn't you call me sooner? Why are you standing in the rain? And why are you covered in mud?" Hotch wasn't sure who was talking his worried or angry side.

"Well" She pointed to the raised car. "I got a flat tire." At the stern quit messing around look she received she knew he was serious.

"I wasn't going to call you at all, as you can see I had everything under control. Well I did until I was getting ready to put the lugs back on the spare and this idiot almost ran me over and in my effort to keep from becoming road kill I jumped into the ditch and now I'm missing three of the five lugs." Aaron's jaw dropped. Whatever lecture he had prepared for her didn't seem so important. He turned on the flashlight and pointed it at her.

"You know Prentiss, even when covered in mud you look very sexy." She rolled her eyes but was grateful he wasn't lecturing her. She didn't respond instead she moved to where she'd last had all five lugs.

"You're okay though right?" He really was worried but she looked fine. "I'm fine. I just want to get into some dry clothes and into bed."

Ten minutes later all three lugs will located. With the amount of rain they had been covered in mud.

Spare tire in place Hotch lowered the car and place both the flat tire and car jack in the trunk of her car.

"Thanks again Aaron, you should be asleep, I'm sure Jack will tire you out this weekend." His smile disappeared.

"Actually, Haley called asking if I could take him next week. Her family surprised her with a visit."

"Oh Aaron I'm sorry, I know you were looking forward to having him."

"Don't worry about it. She promised to allow me more time with him. She felt bad that she was cutting into my weekend."

"So my place then?" She got into her car, thanking God it was leather and would be easy to clean.

"I'll follow you." He kissed her shutting the car door.

With their new found relationship Aaron and Emily didn't waste a minute. They'd already wasted years not admitting their feelings to each other. They spent most of their free time together and of course Jack. Keeping things secret from the team was a tough task so they'd decided they'd tell the team of their relationship soon.

It had been a month since she'd called him in the middle of the night after running her car off the road. And a month since she'd had the fight with her mother. She'd managed not to speak to her or go to any of the "social" functions she'd been invited to. She new eventually she'd have to talk to her but she'd avoid that for as long as she could.

"I'm exhausted." Emily dropped her bag and slumped down on the couch. Aaron huffed dropping his bag next to hers and sank down next to her. Emily was once again thankful for leather furniture.

"Thank God we don't have to go in tomorrow." Emily looked at him with a disbelieving look.

"What? Being with you outside of work is just so much more fun."

"Is that so?"

"Oh its so…" He gave her a wicked smile and leaned over her pushing her further on the couch. "I can't do this at work." He kissed her head. "And this." He placed a kiss on her nose then both of her cheeks. "And my favorite." He moved to her lips, when he finally pulled away Emily reached a hand to the side of his face. "I'm glad we don't have to go in tomorrow too." She pulled his face down to her once again.

In the heat of the moment both had forgotten how tired they were and the fact that Emily was still covered in mud. Emily reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. "Have I told you how unbelievably sexy you are?" She ran her fingers down his muscular chest stopping at his belt.

He shivered under her touch. "The things you do to me."

"Baby I haven't even started yet."

"You're gonna be the death of me." He smiled wickedly, and just like that their moment was killed by the ringing of the door bell.

"Damn it." Emily cursed.

"Ignore it, they'll leave." At the persistent ringing he sat up. "Or not. Tell you what. You get rid of whoever's on the other side of that door while I get a nice warm bath ready." Emily sighed. A bath sounded great. A bath with Aaron was perfect. "Ok." She kissed him and went for the door. This had better be important, if not she hoped whoever it was brought a body bag with them.

Looking thought the peephole. Only a handful of things could change Emily's mood from a ten to a one in an instant. They were being called away on a case that involved children, running into ex boyfriends she couldn't recall what she'd seen in them, going to the doctor for anything and of course her mother, who happened to be on the other side of the door. Emily buttoned her mud covered blouse and ran her hand through her dirty wet hair before answering the door.

AN: This story was brought on by own flat tire experience just yesterday. I'm looking at two or three chapters tops. Hope you enjoyed…


	2. Chapter 2

**STRANDED  
**Chapter 2

Emily stood silently in the doorway, caught off guard by her mothers visit. Most people would greet their mother with a hug and a kiss and welcome her into their home, that however was not the case when dealing with Elizabeth Prentiss.

"Are you going to invite me in?" Voice like ice. Emily stood to the side of the door allowing her mother into her apartment. "Come in mother."

Ambassador Prentiss noticed the two bags sitting next to the door but chose to ignore them. She also ignored the mud covering her daughter's clothing. A glimmer of disappointment appeared only to disappear second later. This was not how she'd raised her daughter. A mess.

"I tried to call you." She said when Emily didn't say anything. Emily groaned but held her tongue.

To say that Elizabeth Prentiss was pissed was an understatement, her daughter had not attended a single event she'd invited her to nor had she taken any of the calls her secretary had made. That of course was her mother's idea of calling her daughter. She'd have her secretary call because she was too busy to pick up the phone herself.

Emily glanced over at the clock in her kitchen. Ten minutes. Ten minutes had passed in almost complete silence.

"Emily, your behavior at dinner was unacceptable."

"Mother, it's been a long four days, I'm tired, wet and covered in mud can we not talk about this right now."

"No Emily, I took the time to drive out here you will take the time to listen."

"Mother we both know you didn't take the time to drive your driver did." She immediately saw the anger in her mothers eyes.

"I am not leaving until we discuss your behavior at dinner." Ambassador Prentiss' tone meant business and after the long case Emily wasn't really in the mood to talk about her mannerism while at dinner a month ago.

"Mother I'm begging you. Can we please talk about this tomorrow?" Emily was not one to beg but she knew the conversation would only end in disaster so anything she had to do or say to end it she would.

"EMILY PRENTISS!" Emily winced. "We will have this conversation now. Not later, not tomorrow and definitely not the day after. Never have I been so embarrassed and by my own flesh and blood no less."

"Embarrassed? You're here because I embarrassed you? I can't believe you, you should be here to see if I'm okay, did you ever think for a second that maybe I was just as embarrassed to have my mother treat a man outside the family better then her own flesh and blood? No you didn't. Look mother, I really don't want to talk about this right now." Standing in the kitchen and arguing with her mother was the last thing Emily wanted to do especially with Aaron upstairs preparing a relaxing warm bath that she was looking forward to more and more with each passing minute.

"Young lady you will watch how you speak to me. You are being disrespectful, just as you were at dinner last month. Michael and I were not impressed with your attitude. How do you expect to settle down if you treat every successful man I introduce you to like they don't matter. Lucky for you Michael has agreed to see you again."

The thought of seeing Michael made her sick to her stomach. She'd rather be in an enclosed room with a week old dead body. This was getting out of hand real quickly and Emily was too tired to put up with her mother and her "acts of kindness".

"They don't matter mother. I don't want to be set up with any of your successful men, they don't want someone to spend their lives with, they want someone they can control. They want a trophy wife. So excuse me for not wanting to settle for Mike the surgeon, James the Governor, Adam the restaurant owner or even Darren the up and coming District Attorney." Those were just a few of the men her mother had introduced her to. Had she wanted to continue this argument for hours she would have gone on with the list of men.

Elizabeth Prentiss was seeing red. Never in her life had someone spoken to her like her daughter had at that moment.

Emily took a big calming breath, she needed to stop this conversation before it went any further and before they both said things they'd regret. She was also sure that by now Aaron could hear every word. "Mother this really isn't the best time, I'm tired and I can't think straight right now."

"Then when? When is a good time? You're always on a case and when you're not you're too busy spending every free minute you have with your boss and his son." Elizabeth was not having it.

Oh that was it. Brining her down and judging her was one thing bringing Aaron and Jack into this was a whole different story. She no longer cared, this was the final straw if her mother wasn't going to accept her decisions then she wasn't welcome to an opinion.

"Who I spend my free time with is none your business mother, I'm a grown woman and can make my own decisions."

"Yes Emily I know. You don't need to remind me. You've been making your own decisions since you were fifteen." The minute the words came out of her mouth she regretted them, but her facial expression didn't show it.

Emily gasped, tears filled her eyes immediately. "Emily I…"

"Leave." She wasn't about to break down in front of her mother. "Please just leave."

"Emily, you need to listen." She was going to have the conversation she came for.

"No mother, I want you to leave. I don't want to talk, not about my life and not who I want to spend it with." Elizabeth sighed and turned for the door, she knew it was a lost cause.

"I'm happy with Aaron and until you can accept that last months dinner will be the last of our dinners." Elizabeth said nothing, she held her head high and walked out of the apartment seemingly unfazed.

The tears she'd been fighting returned with a greater force, this time though she didn't fight them she just let them role down her cheeks.

AN: so not the best stopping point but I'm tired and my percocet is kicking in...


	3. Chapter 3

**STRANDED  
**Chapter 3

So much for a warm bath and a night of relaxation. Aaron stepped off the steps hesitant. He heard the second half of the fight. He felt terrible for eavesdropping but at the same time he was glad he had. He had a better idea of why she was upset rather then having to wait for her to explain it herself. He was confused however, what had the ambassador meant when she said Emily had been making her own decisions since she was fifteen? That was a question he was hoping to get an answer to soon.

"Emily?" She didn't respond. Her shoulders shook and she made sure she was facing away form him. Reaching a hand for her he grabbed her shoulder and turned her to look at him. His heart broke when he saw the tears running down her face. "Oh sweetheart, come here." He engulfed her in his arms squeezing tightly. She clung to his shirt as the sobs overtook her. This had been a long time coming. She'd gone most of her life holding in all the frustration she'd ever felt towards her mother. She'd finally reached a breaking point, she was just glad she hadn't reached it alone. There was no telling what trouble she would have gotten herself into.

"It's going to be okay." Aaron assured her. He'd never had to deal with Emily downright sobbing let alone in his arms. He ran his hands up and down her back. When he finally felt her settle down he pulled back slightly to get a good look at her. He moved the hair from her face and placed a kiss on her forehead. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying but she looked beautiful, in that moment he saw another side to Emily Prentiss, another facial expression he would have to store in his memory bank, a side he was sure not many had seen and he felt honored. He wiped the last of her tears and motioned her towards the living room.

"Wanna talk about it?" That's as far as he was going to push it.

Was she ready to tell him something from her past that was so dark? Would he stay afterwards? The thought of him leaving after having him for a short time scared her. She was definitely not ready. She wanted more time with him.

"Whatever it is Emily, I'm not going anywhere. You just take your time and start when you're ready."

"Aaron I…I don't think I can." Fresh set of tears filled her eyes she shook her head in an attempt to get rid of them. He tucked his hand under her chin forcing her to look at him. "Emily, I love you and will be here with you no matter what and if you want to talk about it we can, if you just want to sit here or go take a nice warm bath that I have ready upstairs and not say a word for the rest of the night that's fine by me too."

Without a word she grabs his hand pulling him behind her to the bathroom. Stripping down she climbed into the tub and looked over at Aaron expectantly. "Aren't you going to join me?" He didn't need a second invitation. He climbed in behind her and pulled her back against him. He placed light kisses on her shoulders leading up to her earlobe. She relaxed into his embrace leaning her head back capturing his lips. He pulled back when he tasted the salt of her tears. She nestled her head into his neck and turned as best she could in the small tub.

"Aaron?" She looks up at him. She can feel him tense up for a second and she hates that she can't just come out and tell him. "Hmmm…"

"I didn't know she knew." He figured she was talking about whatever happened when she was fifteen.

"Growing up I moved a lot what with mothers job and all. I never had any real friends. I was shy and somewhat of a loner. By the time I turned fifteen I was so lonely and just wanted to fit in. That's when I met John and Matthew." He knew what was coming. He didn't know how but something deep down told him and he was hoping he was wrong, but at the apprehensiveness in Emily's voice he knew he wasn't. He rubbed her hand encouraging her to continue.

"Please don't think less of me Aaron." The tears had not slowed down. "Never." Was his only response. "I found out I was pregnant and when I told John he freaked out and kicked me out. He wanted nothing to do with me. I was so scared that my mother would find out. How I would disappoint her. How her image would be ruined if word got out that the Ambassador's daughter was a pregnant unwed teenager.

The minute Matthew found out he was there for me for everything. He went with me to the clinic and we never spoke of it again. After that Matthew became withdrawn from the church and I withdrew from everything and everyone. I was on a path of self destruction, I started smoking and drinking. I hated myself for taking a life, a life that was never given a chance, I hated myself even more for the guilt and confusion I had caused Matthew." It was clear she blamed herself for Matthew.

"Emily, Matthew was there for you because he was your friend he wanted to be there for you. You didn't force him to go to the clinic with you. He made those decisions himself. Sweetheart you were young and scared. We've all made choices we regret and there is no way to go back. The guilt you feel over the baby will always be with you, but you've spent your whole adult life subconsciously making it up. Have you wondered where your love for law enforcement came from? Because of you countless lives have been saved. Countless children were able to go home to their parents, and all the children that will be safe because you helped put away the pedophile or killer that could one day cross their path."

"How did I get so lucky to have you in my life?" He kissed her smiling. "If I do recall, you blew out a tire and drove your car into a ditch and decided to call me in the middle of the night. I believe the words were 'I'm stuck'."

She giggled. "That sounds about right." She sighed. It felt really good to get her past off her chest.

"What?" She asked when he chuckled.

"Has you mother really set you up with that many guys?" He had his answer at the exaggerated eye roll. "That was to name a few. If we ever have a couple days with nothing better to do I'll tell you about Adam the Chief of Police, Bill the CIA agent, Mason the pediatrician, and my personal favorite Aaron Hotchner my mothers security advisor."

"That last one sounds sketchy…" He joked but his face turned serious again. "Emily, if you want to spend time with me you just have to ask." She was confused.

"You don't have to wait for the middle of the night to drive off the road or get a flat tire. This is the second tire you've destroyed in one month. I know you can afford it but at this rate you'll have to get a second job."

"You know me." She laughed. She really was lucky, he was teasing her like nothing had changed. "I'm just a sucker for a pajama clad knight in shining armor." She released the water valve and watched the water slowly drain. Getting whatever mud was left with Aarons help they semi dried off and headed for the bedroom. Just because the night started on a bad note it didn't mean it had to end in one and Aaron was going to make sure of that.

end…

AN: So I realized I have an easier time writing while on percocet (I don't know how healthy that is) so I wrote this last night while medicated...Hope you enjoyed.


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